Gospel Of Mark: Annotation Essay

Often in today’s world, the media builds up a man just so they can tear him down when he makes a mistake. It may seem weird to say that Jesus Christ faced a similar problem almost 2000 years ago, but He did. Throughout the Gospel of Mark, Jesus constantly tells the people who see Him perform miracles that they shouldn’t tell anyone else. Yet, people continue to follow Him in awe and fear of what they see. It is this awe, confused with fear, that causes the people to ask Pilate to crucify Jesus Christ. Awe is an interesting word. It is most commonly used within the word “awesome” which normally has a positive connotation. People will talk about an amazing or great experience with the description of awesome. But that’s not the full meaning of the word. Awe inspires people to look even when they may

"'Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call King of the Jews?' They shouted back 'Crucify him!' ... So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and ... handed [Jesus] over to be crucified" (Mark 15:12-15). The people ask for the crucifixion of Jesus based on the fears of the chief priests. They choose the fear of releasing a murderer over the fear - that should have been awe - over the miracles Jesus performed during His lifetime. One of the focuses of the Gospel of Mark is the messianic secret. The secret exists because Jesus tells the crowds not to tell of what they have seen, yet people tell and the secret remains. The messianic secret stayed as the awe of Jesus spread because fear spread too and perhaps even more rapidly. The people did not know what to think of the man who could stop the wind and calm the sea. The crowd grew around Him, but in the end they were the ones who forced Pilate to sentence Him to crucifixion. It wasn’t until the third day that people finally understood that Jesus was the